Contact: Tim Ertle
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Box Score vs. Kentucky Wesleyan / Box Score vs. Trevecca Nazarene
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MASON, Ohio – The Ursuline College volleyball team split its final two matches at the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Crossover on Saturday (Oct. 5). The Arrows lost to Kentucky Wesleyan College before sweeping Trevecca Nazarene University.
After going 1-1 on Friday (Oct. 4), Ursuline finished the G-MAC Crossover with an overall record of 8-7 and a 2-2 start in in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. The eight wins are already more than the seven matches UC won all last season.
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Kentucky Wesleyan 3, Ursuline 1
Kentucky Wesleyan was tabbed to finish fourth in the conference preseason poll and so far, it appears the conference newcomers may have been underestimated. The Panthers improved to 12-3 overall with a four-set victory over the Arrows in Saturday (Oct. 5) morning's first match.
The Arrows took the first set, 25-20, but KWC rattled off three straight (25-20, 25-16, 25-22) to secure the victory.
Ursuline hit .343 in the first set victory but that dipped to .143, .156 and .250 in the next three sets. Senior Alex Leister (13) and freshman Makayla Windau (10) were the only Arrows to reach double figures in kills and Leister was one of two Ursuline student-athletes to record 10+ digs. She had 15 and junior defensive specialist Kelly Stenger chipped in 12 digs to go with her two service aces.
Junior setter Molly Hilfinger contributed 37 assists but KWC's offensive attack was too much. Jordan Rickert handed out 54 assists and Bridget Johnson crushed a match-high 21 kills.
Summer Alford (13 kills) and Ashley Pickert (11 kills) also put on a solid showing for Kentucky Wesleyan.
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Ursuline 3, Trevecca Nazarene 0
Last year, Trevecca Nazarene swept Ursuline 3-0 in both meetings. The Arrows lost four of the six sets by two points so they were close – they just couldn't get over the hump.
The Arrows got over the proverbial hump on Saturday (Oct. 5) with a three-set sweep of the Trojans, who picked up a first place vote in the preseason poll. Set scores were 25-19, 25-12 and 25-14.
Senior Alex Leister led the balanced Ursuline attack with nine kills, one more than freshman Makayla Windau. Freshman Emily Adkinson and junior Molly Holfinger each had six kills while freshman Sammi Marcum and senior Maureen Kelly each chipped in five.
Windau produced a career-high 16 digs to lead the UC defense and Hilfinger and Leister both added seven digs. Hilfinger was again solid with 27 assists and four service aces.
UC won the first set despite hitting just .129 but the Arrows were helped by seven TNU attack errors. The Arrows improved as the match went on with a .371 hitting percentage in the second set and a .297 clip in the clincher.
As a team, the Arrows had five blocks which was three more than the Trojans. Adkinson had two solo blocks to go with two blocking assists.
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The Arrows will host Lake Erie College on Tuesday (Oct. 8) at Hathaway Brown's Corrigan-Daniels Athletic Center in a match that will begin at 8:00 p.m. The Pizzazz on the Circle Live Stats will be available free of charge and Max Radigan will provide free play-by-play on the Ursuline College Sports Network.